Carmel businesses struggling with U.S. 31 construction

Erin Heller, owner of Three Ds' Pub & Cafe calls the construction "financially devastating." She isn't alone. Other owners are seeing dips in business as a section of U.S. 31 is closed for construction. Lydia Coutre / The Star

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Blair Laing, shown on June 20, 2014, is the executive chef at Jersey’s Cafe, which is located in the Meridian Village retail center in Carmel at 136th Street and U.S. 31. He said they are losing $50,000 to $60,000 a month and are looking to move because of ongoing construction on U.S. 31.(Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)Buy Photo

Blair Laing can sum up the effect construction over the past year has had on his Carmel business with a sweep of his arm, gesturing to a near-empty restaurant.

The first blow came last September, when a nearby intersection closed so that a roundabout could be built, Laing said. Then in April, U.S. 31 closed between Old Meridian and 136th streets, leaving people with limited options to reach Jersey's Cafe, at the north end of the closure.

In the meantime, however, businesses are struggling as customers find new routes around the construction.

A year ago at 3 p.m. on a Friday, Jersey's Cafe would have been packed. Last August, the restaurant at 13710 N. Meridian St. staffed 35 people — not six. One year ago, Laing was pulling in $50,000 to $60,000 more each month.

"It's just amazing," said Laing, executive chef and co-owner at Jersey's. "I don't even know what to say. I'm just amazed at how far it's fallen off."

The project will eliminate intersections and traffic control signals along U.S. 31, creating a free-flowing freeway with interchanges, many of which will use roundabouts to control ramp traffic and cross-street traffic. The goal is to increase safety and mobility, said Nathan Riggs, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Transportation.

Customers now have limited options to reach more than 35 businesses in three strip centers — the one at the north end of the closure containing Jersey's, and two at the south end along West Carmel Drive.

Business boomed at Jersey's, after it was featured on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" in 2010, Laing said. For a while, they ended up with an almost-unmanageable six times the amount of business they had before their episode aired. With both dining rooms full, lines were frequently out the door — until construction began.

"The restaurant went from vibrant down to pretty much dead," Laing said.

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(Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)

A few storefronts down, Erin Heller is also seeing the effects of construction, which she calls "financially devastating." She opened Three Ds' Pub & Café two years ago and thought she'd be able to get through her first two years of business — which she said are the hardest — before the construction began, but the original 2015 closure plan was pushed forward.

"When I signed my lease, I was expecting at least another year here before they did it," Heller said. "I hadn't had a full solid two years of being here. So I didn't even have a firm grasp on my business, before it (the construction) already affected it."

And J. Razzo's owner John Perazzo said he has seen a 50 percent drop in lunchtime business and a 10-20 percent drop in dinner sales.

Riggs said the decision to speed up the project wasn't made lightly, but moving the closure to 2014 will get the road work done sooner and mean less work for the contractor to complete in 2015.

The closure allows the vast majority of the work to be completed in one season, Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard said. It's construction that drags out for years that ends up shutting down businesses, he said.

"Total closure for a few months, I believe, is far better than construction going on for multiple summer construction seasons," Brainard said.

Still, Heller is hurting as she brings in less money than usual. The first month after the closure, her business was down $7,000 from one year before. The second month, that number was down more than $11,000. The single mom said she likely will have to take out a loan to keep her business afloat.

"It makes you sick, you know," Heller said. "You don't really get a whole lot of sleep, especially if you are the only owner and you're counting on yourself only. So, yeah, you lose sleep. You get stressed here."

Before the roadway was closed, INDOT held meetings with local businesses to explain the project and listen to concerns. There are still local routes for patrons to access the businesses, including Old Meridian, Pennsylvania and Illinois streets, Riggs said.

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(Photo: Charlie Nye/The Star)

Highway construction can adversely impact drivers' confidence in visiting an area if they're unsure of the traffic configuration, he said, but that's why officials strive to inform the public in various ways, using social media, text alerts, email alerts and more.

Construction isn't friendly to any business at any time, said Mo Merhoff, president of the Carmel Chamber of Commerce. Similar challenges were seen at Merchants' Square Shopping Center at the corner of 116th and Keystone, when there was construction in 2009.

Sales were negatively affected at the Marsh Supermarket in Merchants' Square for about eight months. Business seldom returns to prior levels upon completion of a road project, because unfortunately many customers stick with the alternative businesses they found, according to Connie Gardner, senior director of community relations for Marsh.

To counter that, Merchants' Square businesses handed out fliers and maps to their customers, letting people know they were still there and there were ways to reach them, Merhoff said.

Laing is following that example, posting INDOT information on his business's Facebook page and is looking to create a map on the Jersey Cafe's website to constantly update customers on ways to reach his business.

Heller said she receives 15 to 20 calls on the weekend from customers trying to figure out how to reach Three Ds'. She's started hosting events aimed at a younger crowd for youths looking for something to do for the summer.

Heller hopes business will be back to 100 percent once U.S. 31 reopens, but Laing is less hopeful.

Though the section of U.S. 31 will reopen by Thanksgiving, construction will continue on the road between 96th Street and the Monon Trail overpass — just south of Rangeline Road. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2015.

Laing's worried this will continue to hurt his business and doesn't think he can hold out until it's over.

He also is concerned that by the time customers can more easily access Jersey's, they will have found other restaurants to frequent. So, he's looking for a new location and wants to move within the next six months.

Laing doesn't think the construction is "that bad," but said customers are still avoiding the area.

"I realize there's an end result — I'm not sitting there saying this is going to go on forever," he said. "The problem is ... the dollars continue to disappear just because our payroll and everything else dwindles."

"It's stupid for us to continue losing money in droves and not progressing forward."